Mail-pouch crane.



No. 874.210. PATENTED DEG. 17,1907.

I .H. W. KLINE.

MAIL POUCH CRANE APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1907.

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F J! 1 W I j 31.5 I F :m V {20 19 1 M HARRIS W. KLINE, OF SELLS STATION,PENNSYLVANIA.

MAIL-POUCH CRANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1'7, 1907.

Application filed eptember 13. 1907- Serial No. 392.732.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRIS W. KLINE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sells Station, in the county of Adams and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Mail-PouchCranes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail pouch cranes and one of the principalobjects of the same is to provide a crane which will hold a pouch inposition to be caught by the car hook and which will be reliable inaction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a crane for mail oucheswhich will work smoothly and evenl y and which will be reliable andefficient for its purpose and in which very slight friction is createdbetween the ivoted arts and their supports.

T ese an other objects may be attained by means of the constructionillustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of a mail pouch crane made in accordance with myinvention and showing a mail pouch connected thereto in position to becaught by the car hook. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the crane made onan enlarged scale with the mail bag detached. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2, looking in the directionindicated by the arrow. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 44 ofFig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow therein.

Referring to the drawings for a more spe cific description of myinvention, the numeral 1 designates an upright or standard adapted to beplaced in the ground at a point near the railway and provided with steps2 and a platform 3 to facilitate the placing of mail pouches in thecrane. At the upper end of the upright or post 1 is an angular arm 4.Rising from the arm 4 is a bracket 5 and formed upon said bracket is acurved cam or support 6, the lower surface 7 of which is upwardly curvedfrom a central point toward the opposite ends thereof. Pivoted in theouter end of the arm 4 and projecting above the same is a bifurcatedbearing 8 and pivoted in said bearing is the upper pouch supportin arm9, said armbeing pivoted at 10 in the caring. The rear end of the arm 9is curved upon its upper surface as at 1 1, Fig. 4, and is adapted tobear upon the surface 7 of the cam 6. At the outer end of the arm 9 ajaw 12 is provided, said jaw havingagroove 13 therein and pivotedbetween the upwardly projecting lugs 14 on a pin 15 is a movable jaw 16provided with a handle 17 and a spring 18 to hold the jaw 16 normallyclosed.

An adjustablearm 9 is provided with a metal strap or stirrup 19 whichpasses around the post 1 at a point where said post is recessed, as at20. To hold the arm 9* in adjusted position, a cam lever 21 providedwith an eccentric head 22 is pivoted upon a bolt 23 extending throughsaid head and into the arm 9. The post or upright 1 is curved on itsinner side as-at 24 for the head 22. Depending from the arm 9 is abracket 25 and formed upon said bracket is a pair of spaced cam keepers26, the space between said keepers beinglcurved downwardly from oppositesides of the bracket 25. Pivoted in and depending from the outer end ofthe arm 9 is a bifurcated bearing 8 which is similar in con struction tothe bearing 8, already described. Pivoted in the bifurcated bearing at27 is the lower pouch supporting arm 28, the rear end of which isdisposed between the cams 26 when in position to support a pouch. Theouter end of the arm 28 is provided with a rigid jaw 29 having a curvedportion 30. Lugs 31 are formed on the arm 28 and pivoted between theselugs on the bolt 32 is a jaw 33 also provided with a groove or curvedportion 34. A handle 35 formed on the movable jaw member has connectedto it a spring 36 which bears against the arm 28 to normally hold thetwo jaws in contact.

A mail pouch 37 provided with loops 38 at opposite ends thereof andrings 39 connected to said loops is mounted between the arms 9 and 28,said rings being connected between the rigid and movable jaws 16 and 12and 29 and 33, as shown in Fig. 1. The operation of my invention may bebriefly described as follows :-When the mail pouch 37 is held inposition as shown in Fig. 1 with the rear ends of the arms 9 and 28disposed centrally to the cams 6 and 26, a very slight force against thebag or pouch in the center thereof will swing the arms 9 and 28laterally upon their pivots a and owing to the formation of the cams 6and 26, the outer ends of the arms will gradually move one toward theother. When the car hook engages the pouch it will swing the armlaterally and the rings 39 will be readily withdrawn from between thestationary and movable jaws against the tension of the springs 18 and36. From the foregoing it will be obvious that a mail pouch supported inthe manner described can not readily become entangled and dropped whenengaged by the car hook. When the arms are swung laterally the pouch ismerely supported by the upper ring 39 until the arm 9 passes out fromunder the cam 6 at which time the bag or pouch will be thrown into themail car.

Many changes may be made in the detail construction of my mail pouchcrane without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

l. A mail pouch crane comprising a standard or post, mail pouchsupporting arms pivotally supported upon said post curved cams forengaging the inner ends of said arms and means for supporting a mailpouch upon the outer ends of said arms.

2. A mail pouch crane comprising a standard, an arm projecting at oneside of said standard, a bracket on said arm, a curved cam on saidbracket, a mail pouch supporting arm pivotally connected to saidstandard with the rear end of said supporting arm engaging said curvedcam, means for supporting a mail pouch on the outer end of saidsupporting arm, an arm adjustably connected to said standard, a bracketconnected to said arm, said bracket carrying two curved cams, a pouchsupporting arm pivoted to said adjustable arm with the rear end of saidsupporting arm disposed between said cams, and means upon the outer endof said supporting arm for engaging a ring on the mail pouch. 1

3. In a mail pouch crane the combination of a standard, curved cams,pivoted pouch supporting arms engaging said cams, and means foradjusting one of said supporting arms toward and from the other.

4. In a mail pouch crane, a standard, a pouch supporting arm pivotedupon said standard, a curved cam for normally supporting said arm in ahorizontal position and means for engaging the lower end of the pouch.

5. In a mail pouch crane, the combination of a standard, a pouchsupporting arm pivoted upon said standard, a cam for normally supportingsaid arm in a horizontal position, an adjustable arm, a pouch supportingarm pivoted thereto and a pair of curved cams between which the end ofsaid supporting arm is disposed.

6. In a mail pouch crane, the combination of a standard, a pouchsupporting arm pivoted upon said standard, means for holding said arm ina horizontal position, an adjustable arm, means for holding said arm inadjusted position on said standard, a pouch supporting arm pivoted tosaid adjustable arm and means for normally holding the said arm in ahorizontal position and means for supporting a pouch upon the outer endof said pouch supporting arms.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRIS IV. KLINE.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL IV. KLINE, GUY W. BANGE.

